the nats. fans at the game learned of the braves' loss in the ninth inning. they had to wait until after the game to celebrate. >> you can't even imagine, to be honest with you. as much as you see it on tv, there's nothing like being soaked and freezing and covered in champagne and beer. it's the best feeling in the world. >> we worked so hard for this. right now we're just trying to enjoy it. >> this is the first time in 79 years a baseball team from washington has clinched a title. congrats. >> you know what, there are a lot of nats players who have been waiting their whole careers to make the playoffs, but there are also washingtonians who have waited their entire lives to see a playoff game in their hometown. these folks are excited. they celebrated inside and outside nationals park after last night's game, and they were celebrating something a lot of fans, quite frankly, thought

they would never see. >> we waited a long time for this, and now we're number one. number one. >> i was at the last senators game september 30th, 1971. i was in the third grade. i never thought i would see championship and d.c. baseball in the same sentence. this is absolutely amazing. >> the nationals can clinch home fieladvantage in the playoffs by shall iffing the regular season with the best record in the national league. right now they're tied with the cincinnati reds for that best record. we bring in tom kierein. this is something a lot of folks are excited about because it just -- >> it doesn't happen. >> you can't help think about it that way. >> we had a terrific season. to clinch first place. >> if i had some gatorade, i'd pour it on both of you. what a wonderful thing for washington, even though we had rain scattered around the region. take a look now. we do have a big area of rain advancing south to north headed into our area. it's a big area of low pressure to our north moving on in throughout the day. right now all that area in green, that's generally light

showers in montgomery county as well as into western fairfax county, loudoun county, the rest of northern virginia. a little heavy rain falling just to our southwest. this area of rain is in rappahannock county, moderate rain there. heading farther to the north and heading to north perhaps fauquier county the next 30 minutes or so. right now around the region, we have temperatures in the low to mid-60s in the immediate metro area. it's in the upper 60s right near the bay. farther to our west, we're just in the 50s shenandoah valley and into the mountains. hour by hour throughout the dayed too, we'llave temperatures hold steady. kind of cool, near 60 degrees by 6:00, and by noontime, mid-70s. occasional showers throughout the morning. highs reaching upper 70s. i'm back in ten minutes with a hometown forecast. another look at storm team 4 radar. look at your first 4 traffic with danella. >> checking out the area for you. still seeing some road work.

if you're traveling eastbound at trapp road, going to have the left lane get by in that area. at that i c taking the outer loop of the beltw beltway, two of the right lanes are going to get you by. traveling from prince william parkway, nice and clear in both directions, as you travel from prince william parkway to the beltway. i did see a disabled vehicle northbound as you make your way on triangle at exit 150. it is in your shoulder lane. as i said, those travel lanes nice and open. aaron and eun, back over to you. 4:30. today the d.c. council plans an overhaul of handicapped parking in the city. it will restart the red top meter program that was halted earlier this year. right now any driver with disabled tags can park for free at any meter. the red top would mean that

disabled drivers would have to pay for parking, but there would be spots reserved for them. it's meant to cut down on abuse of handicapped parking privileges. congress and the general asmbly have already approved the expansion of the washington metropolitan airport authority's board. it would grow from 13 members to 17. the district's newest member, d.c. chamber of commerce president barbara lang, has already been vetted. she would join the board immediately. the board has come under fire recently for lavish spending on travel and meals. a woman's motorized scooter malfunctioned. karen jones said her scooter started running in circles at the eastern market station back in july, and no one could stop it. that scooter threw her onto the tracks. >> i was hollering. i was like somebody help me, please. but couldn't nobody catch the chair. and when the chair stopped, bam, it threw me over in the tracks.

>> in a statement, metro said safety is its number one priority, but metro said guard rails would block access to get on trains at the platforms and could be a safety hazard by causing people to trip. this morning a man robbed a frederick county bank saying he had a bomb. a man wearing a ravens shirt walked into the frederick county bank in walkersville yesterday afternoon. he gave the teller a note saying he had a bomb and demanding money. he got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. police searched the area, but the bomb was never found. the man was seen driving a green/blue toyota with license plate 1ah-2856. a teenager is behind bars after a violent robbery in riverdale. surveillance cameras rolled as a group approached a man leaving a restaurant on friday. they asked him for a cigarette, then punched him in the face. the victim fell to the ground, dropping his cell phone and

wallet. he then got up and ran while the group took his belongings. this morning the search continues for two other suspects involved in that holdup. president obama and mitt romney will spend today preparing for their first debate. the candidates will square off tomorrow night at the university of denver. romney arrived in denver yesterday as quarterback john elway introduced the presidential nominee at a rally last night. romney told the crowd creating jobs would be the administration's number one priority. president obama preparing for tomorrow's debate but in nevada. he has not made any campaign appearances since sunday. romney says he would not deport any undocumented immigrants in the u.s. because of an executive order the president signed. they can stay for two years if they came before they were 16, are still 30 or younger, and meet other criteria. romney criticized the president for signing that executive order

during an election year. he also said he would veto a bill that would grant a path to citizenship. strong attacks coming from both sides, but now some residents in roanoke, virginia, say one anti-obama display goes too far. a man named curtis caldwell put up a statue on his front lawn that is a monkey wearing an obama mask. then it says no 'bama and a confederate flag. >> not trying to say obama is an ape or nothing. if i had a kangaroo, i'd put a kangaroo up there. i had a monkey. i bought that long ago in florida. i think we need to get him out of office. that's the primary thing i'm trying to say, get this man out of office. >> caldwell says he used a skeleton to mock the president in another display he had up four years ago. the skeleton fell apart. he decided to use the monkey

instead. 4:37 is our time. ahead on "news 4 today," a peanut butter recall continues to grow. the latest stores you shop at that are pulling that product. and why these monuments are sporting a different color. e.

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this morning the white house and buckingham palace are transformed to support the fight against breast cancer. the pink lights will remain on throughout october. in this month's official proclamation to kickoff breast cancer month, the president urges mammograms as a key to early detection. >> a lot of significant or landmark buildings are being lit up there. >> empire state building. >> in new york city and also in london. again, you see the white house here, looks like think maybe just turned off the light. am i right? i'm told they're still on. it's just dark in our monitors. it's maybe dark, tom kierein, because of clouds that are here and more that are rolling in. >> and some rain. so have an umbrella handy. we take a look at the radar. light green into montgomery county, loudoun county, points west. it's raining a little harder in culpeper and rappahannock and madison county. that's tracking to the east side of the blue ridge. as we look at the hometown

forecast of la plata, charles county, scattered light showers. by noontime, a little thunder and lightning along with those showers. highs reaching upper 70s midafternoon. have an umbrella handy, occasional showers, maybe afternoon thunder and lightning along with those showers. a look at tonight, the rest of the week and weekend. danella, how's traffic? light rain in the area. if you're traveling along i-270, i'm still seeing a wet commute in this area, but not any accidents or rover. that's good. here's a live look as you make your way southbound past 109, northbound as well, nice and clear between old hunter road as you make your way to rockville and connecting to the beltway. let's head over to i-66. things look pretty clear as well. a live look at sudley. eastbound, westbound clear. even inside the beltway at 66. no road work. not seeing any accidents as you travel past glebe. you can see very light volume in the area. i'm back in ten.

aaron and eun, over to you. 64 degrees. still to come, a developing story north of the border as this fiery scene sends hundreds from their homes.

i'm angie goff at the news 4 live desk. 34 people are dead after a boat off the coast of hong kong collides with a ferry and sinks. you can see what's left of that ferry. the boat torn up, chunks of it missing. a large scale air and sea search for survivors continues right now in what is considered the deadliest accident in years. children are believed to be among the dead as the boat was filled with families celebrating china's autumn festival. more than 100 people were rescued, and four remain in critical condition. a news conference is happening right now in hong kong. the ceo of the boat company just

extended his deepest sympathy to the families and victims involved. reporting from the live desk, angie goff, news 4. we're also following a developing story out of canada this morning, where firefighters are finally getting control at a massive fire at a racing fuel plant in winnipeg. that fire triggered several explosions and fireballs since it started last night. police evacuated more than 100 nearby homes. they're finally letting those residents return now. no one was hurt. a peanut butter recall that started at trader joe's is expanding again this morning. new mexico based sunland incorporated makes peanut butter for several retailers. they are now including cashew butter, tahini, and blanched and roasted peanut products. the recall continues after 30 salmonella cases. the products can be found at trader joe's, giant, whole foods, and target. sunland are extending it as a

precautionary measure because many of their products are made on the same equipment. american airlines is already dealing with cancelled flights and unhappy pilots. now the faa is investigating the carrier after dangerous seat trouble midflight. eight planes are grounded after an entire row of seats came unbolted during flights saturday and yesterday. flights had to be diverted to jfk. passengers say this issue, on top of plummeting on time arrival numbers and rising cancellations, is unacceptable. >> if they don't fly, i don't have a status on another airline. so it's a big issue for me. >> shakes my confidence as a passenger that i'm going to be able to get to my destination on time. >> american blames some of the issues on a feud with union pilots who they say are writing up trivial maintenance issues. the pilots say the nation's third largest carrier needs new planes. amtrak crews in california trying to repair tracks and

clean up debris this morning after a tractor-trailer slammed into a train near fresno. take a look here. police say the truck driver failed to stop at a railroads k crossing yesterday and pushed two passenger cars and the locomotive off the tracks. a high school student is in stable condition after being stabbed at school. this is according the "baltimore sun." the stabbing happened inside heritage high school. this comes as another student is facing charges for shooting another student on the first day of school at perry hall high school. 15-year-old robert gladden is being charged as an adult with attempted murder and assault. a man accused of killing a school superintendent is fighting extradition to new york. police say anthony taglianetti refused to waive his right to an

extradition hearing, which means it could be a month before he is turned over. he is accused of killing clymer superintendent keith ray jr. remembering a prominent local professor killed in a freak accident. police say rhett leverett was killed yesterday morning when a car jumped the curb as he was walking his dog. the driver of the car had a medical emergency and lost control of the wheel. leverett was a history professor at marymount university. his dog was not hurt in the accident and is now being cared for by a neighbor. d.c. is now home to a brand new, state of the art forensics crime lab. that building located near the national mall in southwest officially opened yesterday. it has facilities for testing firear firearms, running flu tests, and analyzing chemicals in potential terror attacks. it cost $2 million and took more than three years to build.

>> what it gives to the area to increase and expand the ability to do forensic analysis and solve crimes is enormous. >> until now, d.c. this to rely on an fbi lab in quantico. some more progress this morning in the fight against foreclosures in hard hit prince william county after a meeting organized by local church leaders. virginiians organized for interfaith community engagement, or voice, drew more than 700 people to a meeting at woodbridge church last night. their goal, to hold banks' feet to the fire in the hopes of getting a piece of a $25 billion foreclosure settlement. the crowd got a surprise from bank of america, a $5 million investment into affordable housing in the community. >> we made that $5 million commitment, and we look forward to launching it as soon as we can. >> it's awful hard to turn down priests, ministers, rabbis, and

other religious leaders when when they ask us to answer this call. >> there are 20,000 foreclosures and counting in the county. voice hopes to eventually secure between $300 million and $500 million to help those affected. the nation's largest public university officially has a new president. javier miatas has been named president of the university of maryland university college. he's been serving as acting president since february when the previous president, susan aldridge was placed on leave. she resigned in march for reasons still unknown. umc specializes in online education for many students, half ofitary members and their families. >> little warm out? >> tell us what you got there, buddy. >> guess who's dancing gangnam style this morning. i hold up t-shirts from my

school visits. this is a t-shirt that was printed that says national league east division champions. am i saying this? is this real? is this a dream? it's not a dream. it happened last night. as we take a look outside, there is washington as bleary eyed nats fans are waking up this morning after the celebration last night. what a wonderful, wonderful event for our city and for our whole region and for all the nats fans. 65 now at reagan national and cloudy there. just to the west there are showers coming there. a long train of rain that stretches from the carolinas all the way up to the mid-atlantic states. closer to washington now. getting a few sprinkles in montgomery county, 270 up to frederick, and interstate 70 frederick up to baltimore. and farther south and west of us from generally 66 through fairfax all the way to front royal. it's very wet, getting heavier downpours there. that's advancing off to the north as well. and temperatures on the milder side, mid-to low 60s right

around the metro area. it's in the upper 50s north and west. so for the morning commute, have an umbrella handy. you don't want to get the nats t-shirt wet. we'll have temperatures low to mid-60s. by midmorning, we'll be back in upper 60s to near 70. by noontime, low to mid-70s. for the lunch hour, you'll need the umbrella again too. maybe some thunder and lightning along with some of those showers during the afternoon. upper 70s midafternoon. back down to the low 70s to mid-70s. have the umbrella handy in the afternoon and middle part of the evening. that's when all the activity will be ending. tomorrow it's going to feel like summertime. hot and humid afternoon, low to mid-80s and partly sunny. then less humid and beautiful weather moving in for thursday, friday, and most of saturday. then saturday night into sunday morning, we've got a front coming through that might trigger a shower. otherwise, the weekend looking dry and cooler weather moving in saturday night and in place

sunday. monday, chilly. afternoon highs mid-60s with sunshine. i'll return in ten minutes and have a look at storm team 4 radar. a look at first 4 traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. checking the roadways, seeing an accident in maryland. this one as you make your way westbound 100me. the ramp to 295, an exit blocking that ramp. the travel lane for now looks to be blocked. let's head over to i-95 in maryland if you're taking this commute. nice and clear from laurel to the beltway, not seeing any accidents in the roadway. earlier this morning, around 216, had construction set up. it's clear as you travel in both directions now southbound as well as northbound. i'm back in ten minutes with another look at your traffic. danell over to you. >> danella, thank you. fines for traffic tickets in the area could soon drop. mary chase says a task force she chairs will look at lowering the $150 fine for first time

offenders. traffic camera ticket charges have gone up by as much as 100% in the first four years. that leaves many complaining the program is to collect revenue and not to encourage safe driving. geico is now sponsoring safe phone zones at highway rest stops in the commonwealth. it urges people to pull over at rest stops to use their cell phones or texts instead of being distracted on the road. as part of the deal, geico is paying to keep the rest areas open. virginia is the first state to have its rest areas sponsored. >> there you go. the ever present gecko. it is now 4:55. a van caught crashing down a crowded street with destructive results. coming up at 5:15, why the driver should not have even been behind the wheel. first a new look for hollywood's most famous icon.

the world famous hollywood sign is getting a makeover. the giant letters will be stripped down to bare metal, primed, and then given a new coat of white paint. the ten-week project starts today as it gets ready to celebrate its 90th birthday this year. it was built in 1923 as a real estate promotion for

hollywoodland. the word land was removed in 1939. a minor league baseball team could soon be playing ball nearby. the loudoun hounds owner plans to build a stadium at 1 loudoun near route 7 and loudoun county parkway in ashburn. the team's owners are close to buying a team in the north american soccer league. that stadium could host that team l sas well. the stadium will seat 10,000 fans. the takoma park, maryland man known as the world's best dad is at it again. >> david engeldow is adding a new collection of pictures. last week the father-daughter duo appeared on the "today" show. and let's just say alice had no intentions of sitting still during the interview. he created this picture in a thank you note to the "today" show staff. he's having alice study tape of the show and write an essay on how to behave on national television. she's just a